staysinhawaii. hewill head back later this evening. he did take out with the first lady to express gratitude with service members on behalf of the nation. >> we know it's not easy, but what we also want you to know is you have the entire country behind you and all of us understand that we would be nowhere without the extraordinary service that you provide. i want to say thank you and we love you. >> kristen welker is live in honolulu. it's early in the morning there, but president obama traveling home to d.c. 10:00 p.m. hawaii time. there doesn't seem to be a lot of urgency rarg the fiscal cliff. are they geared up and ready to work on this? >> i think they are. they are hoping that the pressure to get something done will encourage everyone to come to the table to compromise. if you think about it, they have less than a week to get a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff. not a lot of time. how did we get to this point? taking you back to last week, you remember john boehner tried to get that alternative bill through the house. his own bill. he didn't have the support to do it. it fell ap

a deal. >>aloha,hawaii. >>to my republican colleagues, the ronald reagan model is if you get 80% of what you want, that's a pretty good day. >> they were this close. they were this close to a solution. >> he's going to get tax rate hikes. >> are we going over the cliff? >> i believe we are. >> be republican and be conservative and pass a bill that cuts tax. >> boehner has no control over his extreme right wing faction. >> should anybody's taxes be raised at this point? answer yes or no. >> no. no. ♪ >> we begin as president obama and the senate head back to washington set for one last effort to avert the first fiscal cliff. aloha means good-bye for the president as he packs bound for the white house tonight. the president cutting short his vacation leaving michelle and the girls behind as he gets back to work to try to prevent tax increases and spending cuts due to begin next week. there's just one problem. it appears there would be no house republicans to help hammer out a deal. the gop leadership has not yet called their members back to d.c. and will not be in session tomorr

at the gate of a u.s. military gate in khost province. taliban claimed responsibility.>>>hawaii's governoris expected to announce a replacement for late daniel inouye. today, the democratic party listed three finalists. senator inouye's dying wish was for her to take his place in the senate. >>> the winter storm that hit the middle of the country on christmas day is now spreading east, causing up to 19 tornados, that was a potential christmas day record. >>> the storm is also causing massive flight delays and cancellations. at least 1,176 since yesterday morning, and that number is expected to grow throughout the day. the airports most effected by cancellations, indianapolis, dallas-fort worth, chicago o'hare and washington dulles. >>> the dow has closed reflecting the uncertainty with six days to go before potentially devastating impacts to an already fragile economy. joining me now from new york, congressman jerry natter. thank you so much for being on the program. >> it's a pleasure. >> how much of a worry is there amongst your constituents there in new york city that going over the cl

days left to act. gop still mia. joining me nowfromhawaii, kristinwelker. was the president expected? >> we did expect that given there was no deal on the fiscal cliff that he would have to return early from his hawaiian vacation. he will be flying out late or this evening. the first lady and the first daughters continuing his hawaiian vacation. he will find himself in a similar situation. the negotiations are largely deadlocked. just to give you a sense of how we got to where we are, if you go back to last week, it seemed like the house and speaker were getting close to getting a big deal that would have included tax reform and deficit reduction. that fell apart. house speaker john boehner tried to get his own bill through the house. he realized he didn't have enough votes for that. that fell apart as well. the ball is in the senate's court. according to an aide, senate majority leader harry read will not bring a bill to the floor unless he believes he will not have the support to get it passed or at least not to block it. that is the strategy right now. president obama will be work

will plunge the economy back into recession. president obama flies backfromhawaiitonightto be ready if the senate comes back with a plan when it returns to work tomorrow. and house leaders are huddling with members on stand-by to return. senior congressional correspondent dana bash is following all of it for us. what are you hearing? >> there was a conference call of course members of the house leadership even, they're back in their districts, but there was a conference call today among those house republican leaders trying to figure out if and when the house should come back into session. two republican sources tell me they did not make a decision on this call. it's still up in the air. and a big reason for that is if anything can get done in the next six days, the ball is in the senate's court. the capitol is a ghost town. neither chamber in session. an eerie calm since the fiscal cliff only congress has the power to avert is less than one week away. from their home, senate democratic leaders is trying to figure out if the president's scaled back bill can pass congress at the 11th